1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to internal combustion engines, and more specifically to a modular integrated intake manifold for an internal combustion engine in which fuel-handling and air-handling systems are modularized and integrated in new and useful ways.
2. Background Information And Reference To Related Applications
Spark-ignited, fuel-injected internal combustion engines enjoy extensive usage as the powerplants of automotive vehicles. In a representative piston engine, an intake manifold conveys intake air to intake valves of engine combustion cylinders. The intake valves are normally closed but open at certain times during the operating cycle of each cylinder. Pistons that reciprocate within the engine cylinders are coupled by connecting rods to a crankshaft. When the intake valves are open, fuel, such as gasoline, is sprayed by electric-operated fuel injectors into intake air entering the cylinders, creating charges of combustion gases that pass through the open intake valves and into the combustion cylinders. After the intake valves close, the charges are compressed by the pistons during compression strokes and then ignited by electric sparks at the beginning of power strokes to thereby drive the pistons and power the engine.
Various intake manifold arrangements are documented in patent literature. Developments in materials and processes have enabled various parts of intake manifolds to be fabricated in ways that significantly differ from intake manifolds made by older metal casting and machining methods. The ability to fabricate intake manifold parts using newer processes offers a number of benefits, including for example and without limitation: opportunities to structure intake manifolds in novel configurations for design and/or functional purposes; realization of fabrication and assembly cost savings; shorter lead times from design to production; and more efficient use of engine compartment space in an automotive vehicle.
An automotive vehicle manufacturer may be able to attain even further productivity improvements through greater commonality of components across various engine models and through increased integration of individual component parts. For example, an intake manifold that efficiently integrates fuel-handling and air-handling systems may offer potential for significant productivity improvements, and if the systems are integrated in ways that embody an entire intake system as several devoted modules, post-manufacture servicing may be made easier at the same time that manufacturing cost efficiencies and economies of scale are being achieved.
In certain automotive vehicles, such as front-wheel drive vehicles, the engine compartment is at the front of the vehicle, and the engine may be disposed transverse to the length of the vehicle. Moreover, an engine compartment is typically crowded. Accordingly, convenient and expedient access to serviceables and consumables may be an important objective in the design of a vehicle, and the organization and arrangement of an intake manifold can play a significant role in attaining that goal.